Ain't She Sweet? by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

you,” he said. “You have a dog you don’t like, no one will give you a job, and you’re broke.”
    “On the other hand, I still have my charm.”
    He propped a shoulder against the wall and tossed the china knob from one hand to the other. “I believe I mentioned that I might have a job for you. Are you desperate enough yet?”
    She nearly choked on her spit. “I figured you were funnin’ me.”
    “I’m fairly certain I’ve never funned anyone.”
    “My mistake. Does the job involve letting you feel me up again?”
    “Would you like it to?” The way his eyelids fell to half-mast told her she wasn’t the only critter around who knew something about playing games.
    “I’d worry so much about frostbite.” Curiosity overcame her need to dish out the crap.
    “What did you have in mind?”
    He inspected the bread box, then took his time screwing the knob on while she held her breath. When he was finally satisfied, he turned back to her, his eyes shrewd. “I need a housekeeper.”
    “A housekeeper ?”
    “Someone who keeps house.”
    “I know what the word means. Why are you offering the job to me?”
    “Because it’s more temptation than I can resist. The cherished daughter of Frenchman’s Bride forced to sweep its floors and serve on bended knee the man she tried to destroy.
    The Brothers Grimm as interpreted by Colin Byrne. Delicious, yes?”
    “The minute I find Tallulah’s butcher knife, you’re dead.” She jerked open the nearest drawer.
    He took his time moving out of stabbing range into the living room. “On the practical side . . . maintaining Frenchman’s Bride is nearly a full-time job, and it’s cutting too deeply into my writing. This would be six days a week, from seven in the morning until after dinner. Long hours and, it goes without saying, each one as difficult as I can possibly make it.”
    “Where the hell is that knife?”
    “You’ll answer the phone, take care of grocery shopping and simple meal preparation, although I suppose that will be beyond you. The household bills have to be organized, the mail sorted, laundry done. I want an efficiently run household with absolutely no effort on my part. Do you think you could manage that?”
    He made no effort to hide his smug contempt, and she told herself she wasn’t this desperate yet. Except she was.
    He named a salary that lifted her spirits, and she shot into the living room. “I’ll take it!
    You mean for a day, right?”
    From across the room, Colin watched Sugar Beth’s entire face light up and knew he should feel like a cad. He didn’t, of course. He hadn’t felt better since the day she’d arrived. “Don’t be foolish.” He gazed down his nose at her. “That’s for the entire week.”
    She looked as though she was choking, and he didn’t try to hide his smile. The idea of offering her a job had come to him that day at the depot. He’d had time to think about it since then, but until he’d seen her standing on the curb in those tight jeans, cell phone pressed to her ear, looking like a very expensive hooker, he’d rejected the idea as far more trouble than she was worth. Then the wind had caught her blond hair and sent it streaming behind her head like an advertising banner. She looked so untouched by the harm she’d caused, and right then he’d changed his mind.
    He didn’t plan to destroy her, but he bloody well intended to see some flesh wounds, or, at the very least, a few honest tears of regret. Even a forgiving person would have to agree that he deserved more than he’d gotten so far. Putting that chain across her driveway had been like going after an elephant with a peashooter. This, on the other hand, should do the job right.
    She tightened her grip on the chair, still dazed by the insulting salary he’d offered her.
    “No human being could possibly be that cheap.”
    He regarded her imperiously. “Don’t forget you’ll be eating my food, doubtless using my telephone. Then there’s the